Duff, Stewart take top spots at Santa Cruz Triathlon

SANTA CRUZ -- Hundreds of racers, family members, supporters, volunteers and officials turned out for the 28th annual Santa Cruz Triathlon on Saturday, which started on Main Beach and finished in front of the Dream Inn on West Cliff Drive.

San Francisco's James Duff, 33, was the top finisher, covering the Olympic-distance triathlon in 1 hour, 48 minutes and 8 seconds. Tyler Stewart, 32, of Novato, won the women's race in 2:05:19.

Duff trimmed nearly three minutes off his time from 2009 when he took fourth.

Santa Cruz's Eric Clarkson, 28, took second overall for the second straight year to win the men's 25-29 age group. Clarkson, who coaches swimming at UC Santa Cruz, only had one week of training prior to the event.

"I had considered not doing it because I had an injury about six weeks ago" said Clarkson, who also did the race in 2005, '06 and '09. "A lot of my friends do this race, and my swim team volunteers at the event. It's just fun."

Racers completed a 1.5k swim around the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, then biked 40k to Davenport and back along Highway 1 before finishing with a 10k run on West Cliff Drive.

Four of the top 10 men were from Santa Cruz County including Santa Cruz's Dave Reid [fourth, 2:00:42] and Jack Calhoun [fifth, 2:00:00], who just beat out Aptos' Tommy Zaferes [sixth, 2:00:03] in a race to the finish line.

Katrin Tobin of Santa Cruz was the top local woman as she took third in 2:17:55.

The race was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. but was delayed 30 minutes due to fog to ensure the safety of the swimmers. However, the presence of morning fog also kept temperatures low for the duration of the race.

Race organizer Diane Delucchi said she was pleased with the weather overall.

"The fog was kind of welcoming for the bike and the run but not for the swim," she said.

A big concern for some racers going into the event was the recent warm weather. Friday's high was 85 degrees while Saturday was even hotter at 90 degrees.

"The heat makes me nervous," said Santa Cruz's Marguerite Meyer, who took first in the women's 50-54 division in 2:26:02. Meyer, who has raced in the event for 24 years and won the women's race in 1986, designed the shirts, medals and posters for this year's race.

Race director Rich Larson said organizers emphasize community involvement when planning the triathlon.

"This is a Santa Cruz race," Larson said. "We want it to look and feel like Santa Cruz."